Flexible starter bar

ABSTRACT

A flexible starter bar for use in the continuous-casting of metals. The bar includes a series of blocks and flexible metal strands connected to the block at the head end of the bar and anchored below the tail end. The strands are strung through the other blocks and through ball joints between blocks.

United Sta tes Patent 15 3,656,538 V11 [45] A r. 18 1972 [54] FLEXIBLE STARTER BAR 3,351,125 11/1967 Colombo 164/274 3,372,731 3/1968 Pauels ..164/274 X [72] Inventor. Quin Shen Yu, Forest Hills Borough, Pa. 3,442,322 5/1969 Lemper lllllll "164/274 [73] Assignee: United States Steel Corporation Y 3,448,789 6/1969 Gallucci.. .....l64/274 [22] Filed: 30 1970 3,451,466 6/1969 Orr ..164/274 PP NOJ 102,586 Primary Examiner-J. Spencer Overholser Assistant Examiner-John S. Brown 52 us. c1 ..l64/274 51 1111. C1 ..B22d 1110s 53 Field of Search ..l64/82, 274, 282, 283, 4:12 ABSTRACT f d A flexible starter bar for use in the continuous-casting of [56] Re erences metals. The bar includes a series of blocks and flexible metal UNITED STATES PATENTS strands connected to the block at the head end of the bar and anchored below the tail end. The strands are strung through 2,920,359 1960 On X the other blocks and through ball joints between blocks. 3,080,625 3/1963 Pearson ..164/274 3,305,899 2/1967 Saunders 164/412 8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures I 11 J t: u

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INVENTOR. OUIN SHE/V YU m /mwg A Horney FLEXIBLE STARTER BAR This invention relates to an improved flexible starter bar for use in continuous-casting of metals.

In the continuouscasting art, a starter bar or dummy bar is an elongated member, the head of which is inserted in an open-ended water-cooled mold before liquid metal is poured into the mold to begin a casting operation. The starter bar descends from the bottom of the mold, followed by a partially solidified casting. The leading end of the casting attaches itself to the head of the starter bar. Usually the casting apparatus includes a mechanism for separating the head from the remainder of the bar after the head has traveled a predetermined distance from the mold. The head stays with the casting and later is cropped therefrom and scrapped. The bar is supplied with a new head and stored until the next cast is to begin.

Somewhere below the mold the casting usually travels through a curved roll rack which changes its direction of travel from vertical or inclined to horizontal. It is known to employ a flexible starter bar which also travels through the curved rack ahead of the casting. The head may be separated from the bar after it is traveling horizontally.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved starter bar which flexes more smoothly than previous designs and which flexes only in the same direction as the casting bends.

A more specific object is to provide an improved starter bar which includes a series of blocks, a plurality of flexible strands strung through the blocks, and ball joints between blocks.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is front elevational view of my improved starter bar;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section on line IIII of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a vertical section on line IIIIII of FIG. 1.

The starter bar of my invention comprises a series of vertically' aligned blocks of like construction, a head-end block 12, a tail-end block 13, and an anchor 14. The head-end block has a plurality of downwardly open sockets 15, FIG. 2. I attach the upper ends of respective flexible metal strands 16 in these sockets. Preferably these strands are wire ropes. I string the strands downwardly through aligned passages 17 in blocks 10, passages 18 in the tail-end block 13, and passages 19 in the anchor I4. Respective clevises 23 are threadedly engaged with the lower ends of the strands. The anchor 14 has a plurality of lugs 24 fixed to its front face. The clevises straddle the respective lugs and are connected thereto with a rod 25 which extends through aligned openings in the clevises and lugs. I fit pins 26 in aligned sockets in the bottom face of the tail-end block 13 and in the upper face of the anchor 14 to assist in maintaining the anchor in proper alignment with the blocks. The end faces of the tail end block 13 have outwardly projecting lugs 27. Set screws 28 are threadedly engaged with lugs 27 and bear against the upper face of the anchor 14. I adjust these set screws to apply proper tension to the strands 16.

The head-end block 12 carries a separable head 32. This block has upwardly directed lugs 33 in which I insert a rod 34. The head 32 has aligned grooves 35 in its front face receiving rod 34. I insert a leaf spring 36 in one of these grooves embracing the rod to prevent accidental separation of the head, FIG. 2. The upper face of the head carries a plurality of rail sections 37 which become embedded in the casting C thereabove. When the starter bar is separated from the casting, the head-end block 12 and rod 34 are pushed away from the head 32, which remains with the casting.

A novel and important feature of my invention is that I insert ball joints 40 at each location where the strands 16 pass from one block 10 to the adjacent block l0, 12 or 13 FIG. 3. Each ball 40 has a respective passage 41 which flares outwardly toward both ends. I string the strands 16 through these passages. The top and bottom faces of the blocks have substantially hemispherical sockets 42 which receive the balls. The upper and lower edges at the front of each block (i.e. the direction in which the starter bar tends) are cut away and rounded, as indicated at 43. Thus there is sufficient clearance between the edges of adjacent blocks not to interfere with bending of the bar in this direction. The edges at the back are square and have little clearance when the bar is straight. Thus the bar can bend only slightly in the opposite irectlon.

Preferably the upper faces of the blocks have integral tabs 44 which fit within slots 45 on the lower face of the adjacent block to assist in maintaining the blocks in alignment.

From the foregoing description it is seen that my invention affords a flexible starter bar of simple construction. The ball joints between blocks assure that the bar flexes smoothly in the direction it is intended to bend. The closely spaced edges effectively prevent bending in the opposite direction.

Iclairn:

l. A flexible starter bar comprising a plurality of blocks, one I of which is a head-end block and another of which is a tail-end block, a plurality of flexible metal strands attached to one of said end blocks, said other blocks having passages through which said strands are strung, means anchoring said strands outside said other end block, and ball joints at the locations where said strands pass from a block to the adjacent block, said joints including respective balls having passages through which said strands are strung, said blocks having substantially hemispherical sockets receiving said balls.

2. A starter bar as defined in claim 1 in which said strands are fixed to said head-end block, and said anchoring means includes an anchor outside said tail-end block, means connecting said strands to said anchor, and means carried by said tailend block and bearing against said anchor for adjustably tensioning said strands.

3. A starter bar as defined in claim 2 in which the means connecting said strands to said anchor includes respective clevises fixed to the ends of said strands, lugs fixed to said anchor and straddled by said clevises, and a rod extending through said clevises and said lugs.

4. A starter bar as defined in claim 2 in which said tensioning means includes lugs on the end faces of said tail-end block and set screws threadedly engaged with said lugs.

5. A starter bar as defined in claim 1 further comprising a separable head carried by said head-end block.

6. A starter bar as defined in claim I in which said strands are wire ropes.

7. A starter bar as defined in claim 1 in which the adjacent edges of said blocks are spaced apart and rounded at one face of the bar to permit the bar to flex toward that face, and the adjacent edges of said blocks at the other face aresquare and closely spaced to limit bending toward the latter face.

8. A starter bar as defined in claim 1 in which the passages through said balls are flared at both ends. 

1. A flexible starter bar comprising a plurality of blocks, one of which is a head-end block and another of which is a tail-end block, a plurality of flexible metal strands attached to one of said end blocks, said other blocks having passages through which said strands are strung, means anchoring said strands outside said other end block, and ball joints at the locations where said strands pass from a block to the adjacent block, said joints including respective balls having passages through which said strands are strung, said blocks having substantially hemispherical sockets receiving said balls.
 2. A starter bar as defined in claim 1 in which said strands are fixed to said head-end block, and said anchoring means includes an anchor outside said tail-end block, means connecting said strands to said anchor, and means carried by said tail-end block and bearing against said anchor for adjustably tensioning said strands.
 3. A starter bar as defined in claim 2 in which the means connecting said strands to said anchor includes respective clevises fixed to the ends of said strands, lugs fixed to said anchor and straddled by said clevises, and a rod extending through said clevises and said lugs.
 4. A starter bar as defined in claim 2 in which said tensioning means includes lugs on the end faces of said tail-end block and set screws threadedly engaged with said lugs.
 5. A starter bar as defined in claim 1 further comprising a separable head carried by said head-end block.
 6. A starter bar as defined in claim 1 in which said strands are wire ropes.
 7. A starter bar as defined in claim 1 in which the adjacent edges of said blocks are spaced apart and rounded at one face of the bar to permit the bar to flex toward that face, and the adjacent edges of said blocks at the other face are square and closely spaced to limit bending toward the latter face.
 8. A starter bar as defined in claim 1 in which the passages through said balls are flared at both ends. 